Trump Gets Major Sentencing Win as Crucial Election Event Nears
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity is causing significant disruptions to the scheduled July 11 sentencing of former President Donald Trump for his conviction on falsifying business records.
On Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office announced it would not oppose a request from Trump’s lawyers to reconsider his conviction in light of the ruling, which states that official acts of a president are immune from prosecution and cannot be used as evidence against them.
While the final decision lies with Judge Juan Merchan, The New York Times reported that “with both sides in agreement, a delay seemed likely.”
New: Trump sentencing likely delayed. @ManhattanDA does not oppose adjourning at least two weeks. pic.twitter.com/91xGOsjM0Y
— Frank G. Runyeon (@frankrunyeon) July 2, 2024
The original July 11 date was set just days before the Republican National Convention, where Trump is expected to be formally nominated for president.
Trump’s potential sentence ranges from probation and a fine to up to four years in prison.
“Although we believe defendant’s arguments to be without merit, we do not oppose his request for leave to file and his putative request to adjourn sentencing pending determination of his motion,” prosecutors wrote in a Tuesday court letter, as reported by the New York Post.
Trump's sentencing is no longer coming before the RNC
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) July 2, 2024
The man just doesn't stop winning pic.twitter.com/pKAKdqEpPG
The DA’s office has requested a July 24 deadline to respond to any formal motion filed by Trump’s legal team.
The case against Trump involves actions from 2016, but Trump’s lawyers argue that the prosecution incorporated actions he took while in office, according to Reuters.
“The trial result cannot stand,” wrote lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, requesting permission to submit their full argument by July 10.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that “the separation of powers principles” necessitate “at least a presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for a President’s acts within the outer perimeter of his official responsibility.”
“Such an immunity is required to safeguard the independence and effective functioning of the Executive Branch, and to enable the President to carry out his constitutional duties without undue caution,” the court stated.
The court did not specify the exact scope of the “outer perimeter.”
While pledging that he will defend the rule of law, President Biden misrepresented what that law is in the aftermath of Trump v. United States. The President's address misled citizens on the meaning of one of the most important decisions in history. https://t.co/L6yvCxAChc
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 2, 2024
President Joe Biden criticized the ruling as a “dangerous precedent because the power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law, even including the Supreme Court of the United States. The only limits will be self-imposed by the president alone.”
Biden warned that due to the ruling, “any president, including Donald Trump, will now be free to ignore the law.”